Australian Award Accolades
Invercargill Brewery won three medals at the Australian International Beer Awards which were announced in Melbourne last night.
Smokin’ Bishop won silver, with Boysenbeery fruit beer and the brewery’s iconic Pitch Black both taking out bronze medals.
“The awards are not about now, they represent years of work,” brewer Steve Nally said.
While the seasonally brewed Bishop and Boysenbeery are both relative new-comers to the brewery line-up, Pitch Black is the second beer the brewery ever made.
The stout was designed to accompany another Southland Icon, the Bluff Oyster, but ironically has never made it to a single oyster festival.
“I designed it for, I think it was the 2000 Oyster festival. I got a phone call a week out telling me because of sponsorship restrictions I couldn’t sell beer so we went and sold cider instead,” Mr Nally said.
The perfect marriage between the oyster and the beer became a local secret, with Pitch Black on tap at both the Bayview Hotel and Golden Age Tavern in Bluff, and at Zookeepers, Buster Crabb and Paddington Arms in Invercargill.
When that original sponsorship deal was up renewal the brewery offered, in conjunction with a number of boutique breweries to pick it up; an offer declined because the organizers of the day felt a national brewery was a better partner.
“We were told we were welcome to come and sell our cider, but that we couldn’t call ourselves Invercargill Brewery if we did, which seemed a bit pointless,” he said.
The Australian awards were the brewery’s first foray abroad.
“We chose three beers to enter because they’re all gold medalists in New Zealand so we figured it was time to take them further afield – that all three ended up medaling in Australia is fantastic!” Mr Nally said.
Pot Kettle Black, which Invercargill Brewery makes under contract for Yeastie Boys, also won a silver medal.
The Australian International Beer Awards attracted 1100 entries this year.